Chapter 10: The City of Spiders

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Dec 25, 2020 5:42 am
"I could put it in a drawer to elsewhere but I'd still have to open a drawer," Ælfric pondered out loud. "The grimoire first, then deposit the bauble. Seftan, can you tell if any of these drawers or other spaces lead to the Astral Plane? I may have a hands free idea."

As cautiously as possible, Ælfric stalked into the archmage's sanctum sanctorum. His first aim was to safely reach the large and perhaps too obvious book, ascertain if it actually was the grimoire, and secure it without setting off any traps or alarms whether arcane or ordinary. If he got the book without being vapourized or alerting more golems, Ælfric would look for somewhere to put the surveillance gem where it would be discrete and beneath at least immediate notice. After that, he would get the Nine Hells out of there!
OOC:
Reliable Talent makes that 19 Perception and 16 Investigation. Add the 3 from Guidance wherever best applied, please. If things're looking really rocky, I'll roll the Bardic Inspiration but I'll hold onto it for now otherwise.
Last edited December 25, 2020 6:32 am

Rolls

Perception - (1d20+9)

(3) + 9 = 12

Investigation - (1d20+6)

(6) + 6 = 12

Arcana - (1d20+10)

(19) + 10 = 29

Stealth - (1d20+13)

(18) + 13 = 31

Guidance - (1d4)

(3) = 3

Dec 25, 2020 5:36 pm
"I can see clearly into the etherial but without physical experimentation I can't tell if any lead to the Astral Plane. My legend lore spell might tell if a particular object was tied to the Astral but I can only cast it on one item."
Dec 25, 2020 6:59 pm
"Thanks, Seftan. Save that for now. Once I get the grimoire, I'll try my idea."
Dec 25, 2020 8:23 pm
OOC:
I believe I also gave Ælfric bardic inspiration, so don't forget that!
Dec 25, 2020 8:28 pm
OOC:
I know. I asked Naat above for a nudge if it's needed in this instance. Don't wanna possibly waste it.
Jan 3, 2021 1:32 am
Aelfric walks into the room and cautiously to the desk. He stands there for a moment and nothing bad happens as he looks over the grimoire. It is currently closed and has an odd symbol emblazoned on the front that seems to be difficult to focus your vision on. Looking about, there are about a million different places to place the gem and no way of knowing without further inspection which one is most likely to get you killed by fooling with it.
Jan 3, 2021 2:04 am
"As for that crazy idea," Ælfric said, "if I'm not back in 5 minutes, get the Nine Hells out of here."

Ælfric pulled his Robe of Stars about him dramatically and tried to shift to the Astral Plane!
OOC:
The Robe of Stars...
While you wear the robe, you can use an action to enter the Astral Plane along with everything you are wearing and carrying. You remain there until you use an action to return to the plane you were on. You reappear in the last space you occupied, or if that space is occupied, the nearest unoccupied space.
Let's see what's on the Astral Plane in the sanctum. Any extradimensional repositories here that Ælfric can drop the gem into? And did our Drow wizard mention if the scrying gem had to be on the same plane? If so, Ælfric's little excursion can be more for further recon and a bit of stealing than anything else, and he'll find somewhere in the Prime Material to stash the gem once he returns. He'll still give the Astral Plane here a good investigation, though.

Reliable Talent makes that 16 Investigation, 20 Arcana, and 23 Thieves Tools. Please put the 3 from Guidance where it's best utilized.
Last edited January 3, 2021 2:06 am

Rolls

Perception - (1d20+9)

(12) + 9 = 21

Investigation - (1d20+6)

(3) + 6 = 9

Arcana - (1d20+10)

(5) + 10 = 15

Guidance - (1d4)

(3) = 3

Thieves Tools - (1d20+13)

(5) + 13 = 18

Feb 9, 2021 5:58 pm
Aelfric shifts into the astral plane, a vast expanse of silvery emptiness. Vast clouds of silvery grey drift by on winds that you can't feel. You see a swirling pool of diamond blue light in the distance which you recognize as a portal to Mechanus.

You don't see anything that would be a good hiding place if you want any sort of link to this part of the material plane.
OOC:
I debated for a while closing this game, but I think I'm going to finish it out since we're so close already
Feb 9, 2021 10:57 pm
OOC:
Yeah let's kick these demons outta the Realms!
Feb 10, 2021 1:27 am
Ælfric lamented the lack of a horde, noted the relative direction to the Mechanus portal, and shifted back to the Prime Material.

"I went looking for any extradimensional stashes on the Astral Plane. No luck," he told the others.

It felt like he'd been gone a long time but he was back now and ready to finish this.

"If you can't see anything on the Ethereal and I didn't find anything on the Astral, our wizard probably has his things in a demiplane... and I'm not trying to break into one of those. So we put this somewhere here, somewhere I don't have to open."

Ælfric opted to merely hide the scrying gem behind something large and out of the way, and he looked for such an appropriate hiding place. His years of thieving should give him a good idea of the best hiding place. When he found one, he would use his arcane grasp to move the gem into position.
OOC:
I'm really happy you can finish this, Naatkinson. :)
OOC:
Reliable Talent makes that 19 Perception. As usual, Guidance wherever it can do the most good.
Last edited February 10, 2021 1:28 am

Rolls

Perception - (1d20+9)

(6) + 9 = 15

Investigation - (1d20+6)

(11) + 6 = 17

Guidance - (1d4)

(2) = 2

Feb 10, 2021 1:56 am
Elayna keeps watch, paying careful attention to the other doors and portals in view.
Feb 10, 2021 2:41 am
Seftan helps Ælfric to find a suitable spot for the gem, scouring the few safe rooms visited for the optimal location.

"They say that often the best hiding place is right out in the open. I wonder if there's not a fruit bowl we could simply leave it in? How often do evil wizards eat anyway? What about the couch cushions?"

Seftan cracks a crooked smile at that last one, half joking, though the more he thought of it the more sense it made.
OOC:
"aid another" for Ælfric
Feb 10, 2021 2:49 am
"With our luck, he's probably a lich who doesn't eat. I'm still thinking behind or inside something. A vase, perhaps, or behind a book or statuary."
OOC:
Thanks for the assist.
We're in his sanctum. I think we're sealed off from the other rooms we visited before for now... hence the lack of golems. :P
Feb 10, 2021 6:29 pm
After looking around for a bit, you find a good spot inside the cushions of a comfortable chair to store the gem. That task complete, you are one step closer to banishing the demon lords back to the abyss.
Feb 10, 2021 9:14 pm
"Now we just need Gromph's grimoires and notes on his ritual," Elayna says, partly to remind herself of what's required.
Feb 10, 2021 11:14 pm
"I'm guessing they aren't going to be laying on his desk..."

Seftan looks around for anything that might seem like obvious places a wizard might keep a spellbook.

Rolls

Perception - (1d20+4)

(15) + 4 = 19

Perception (advantage) - (1d20+4)

(11) + 4 = 15

Feb 11, 2021 12:27 am
After planting the gem, Ælfric again used his hidden helping hand to lift the grimoire emblazoned with a fuzzy arcane symbol off the desk. He'd checked it before so he hoped his scan was sufficient to pick what traps he could. This was, after all, an evil Archmage.

"I really don't want to touch this thing," Ælfric said as he held open a sack and slid the grimoire gently inside. He looked around the desk for any other notes or such which might be pertinent. Now wasn't the time to be greedy or overly curious. Their luck had held but only staying focused on the task at hand would help it keep holding.
OOC:
Reliable talent makes that Perception 19, Investigation 16, and Arcana 20. Guidance where it can do its best.
Last edited February 11, 2021 12:44 pm

Rolls

Perception - (1d20+9)

(8) + 9 = 17

Investigation - (1d20+6)

(8) + 6 = 14

Arcana - (1d20+10)

(5) + 10 = 15

Guidance - (1d4)

(3) = 3

Feb 12, 2021 11:05 pm
Aelfric quickly scans through the documents on the desk and doesn't see anything to do with other planes or demons, so they're likely not related to the task at hand.
Feb 13, 2021 2:41 am
"Doesn't look like anything else is the kind of evil we're after today. Let's go back through the menagerie and move out."
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